


Late Nights and Vampire Balls

by TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel



Series: Supernatural Cafe AU [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Dancing, Fae & Fairies, Family Issues, M/M, Magic, Vampires, balls, supernatural cafe AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-09
Updated: 2013-11-09
Packaged: 2017-12-31 22:59:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1037398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel/pseuds/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki turns out to have a brother, life at the cafe goes on as usual, and Clint goes as Phil's date to the annual vampire ball.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late Nights and Vampire Balls

**Author's Note:**

> Because you guys are awesome, I wrote you some more in this verse. :)

**Late Nights and Vampire Balls ******

When Maria got back from vacation, she stared at Clint manning the café counter with pointed ears, and demanded, 

“Really?”

“Yep,” Clint said briefly.

“Huh,” said Maria. “I guess that explains that.”

She spent the rest of Clint’s shift hovering a little awkwardly, like she wanted to apologise but didn’t know how.

“Later, Maria,” Clint said as he left for the night, and Maria smiled at him, looking relieved.

* * *

A couple of nights later, instead of the usual roster of Clint sharing a shift with Natasha, he shared his shift with Loki. Natasha had a dinner date that night, so she’d arranged to swap shifts with Loki, so that she was working the late night shift instead of the earlier one. It was the first time that Clint had actually worked alongside Loki; they kind of knew each other, because Loki usually arrived for his shift early, a few minutes before Clint finished up, but Clint didn’t know him all that well, even though Loki had been giving him magical exercises to practice.

Working with Loki turned out to be a little like working alongside Natasha: like her, Loki was very efficient, and capable of charming a difficult customer. But where Natasha was largely stoic and silent when someone was rude, Loki was the master of the witty retort, and every time he saw Clint he had some sort of pithy remark to make about someone in the café. Clint had to admit he was kind of amusing, even if he was a smart-ass with a superior attitude. It was easy to see why Loki and Darcy got along so well.

Halfway through Clint’s shift, the café door opened to admit a tall, very muscular man. Clint stared. He was pretty sure no one was meant to have that many biceps, seriously. The guy looked like he could bench-press a car. Despite being an intimidating wall of muscle, though, the guy’s expression was open and friendly.

“Brother!” the blonde man bellowed joyfully, beaming at Loki.

Loki responded by turning him into a mouse.

“Brother, that was most unkind,” the mouse squeaked reproachfully.

Glancing at Loki’s scowl, Clint carefully picked up the mouse and placed him on the counter before someone trod on him.

“My thanks,” the mouse said in his tiny voice, looking up at Clint with bright eyes.

“Why are you here?” Loki hissed, stalking over and glaring at the mouse.

“I came in search of you, brother!” the mouse exclaimed.

“I am not your brother!” Loki yelled at the mouse. Most of the café’s occupants were watching with interest. “I am a _frost giant!_ Your parents _stole_ me, Thor!”

Well, that answered Clint’s question about whether Loki was a magical human or a supernatural being. Clint wondered exactly what a frost giant was.

The mouse’s pose drooped a bit.

“I care not for that, Loki–”

“ _I_ care,” Loki interrupted fiercely. “Your parents found me in the snow and decided to just take me. What if I had family, Thor? Now I will never know. All my life you were the special one, Thor, while I was overlooked, destined to remain in your shadow, never thought of as much as you were.”

“That is not true–”

“Thor, they didn’t even notice I was a _wizard!_ ” Loki exclaimed, exasperated. “So preoccupied were they with your emerging talent as an elemental!”

Clint got the impression that if the mouse could have frowned, it would have.

“I have to break up your family drama,” Maria said, “but this is a business, and Loki, you’re on shift, remember? Work out your differences on your own time.”

“Certainly,” Loki said stiffly, with forced calm, and stalked away.

There was a thoughtful silence.

“I think that I may be destined to remain a mouse for some time,” Thor said contemplatively.

“Probably, man. So, you’re Loki’s brother? Or something?”

“Indeed,” said Thor. “But Loki did not take the news of his adoption well.”

“I kind of got that impression.” Clint looked at the mouse. “Listen, you want a muffin, or something?”

“Aye. I would be most grateful for your hospitality,” Thor conceded graciously.

By the time they neared the end of Clint and Loki’s shift, Thor was curled up asleep on what was left of his muffin, and Clint had learned quite a lot about Loki and his family.

Thor said that his family were pagans, who had taken in baby Loki after finding him alone in the snow. Loki had instinctively shapeshifted into human form at Odin’s touch, and stayed that way for the next twenty-something years. Odin and Frigga (Clint might have sniggered at the revelation that Loki’s dad was named Odin Odinsson) had loved both their sons dearly, but it was true, Thor admitted, that after it became apparent that Thor was an elemental with power over electricity, he had gotten more attention than Loki did. 

It had been quite inadvertent, Thor assured Clint; but the fact was, Odin and Frigga hadn’t even realised that Loki’s ability to instinctively shapeshift was part of his greater talents as a wizard – Loki’s wizardry had gone completely unnoticed. When Loki had accidentally discovered his heritage as a frost giant, and that he was actually adopted, it had been the last straw. Loki had moved to America, cutting all ties with his family, and it had taken Thor this long to track him down.

Telling the story seemed to tire Thor’s tiny mouse body out, because he went to sleep soon afterwards. He was still out like a light when Loki approached the counter at the end of his and Clint’s shift.

Loki surveyed sleeping mouse Thor, snoozing on three-quarters of a muffin.

“He ate that much, in this form?” Loki asked. “His appetite truly knows no bounds.” He picked Thor up carefully, and Thor didn’t stir.

As Loki held Thor in his cupped hands, his expression was mostly tired, with an echo of pain and regret.

“I’m not saying he’s not, you know, oblivious and kind of a jock, but he really seems to care about you,” Clint offered tentatively.

Loki didn’t look up, still watching Thor.

“Caring was never the problem,” he said in a quiet voice. “Thank you for looking after him.”

“No problem, dude.”

Loki left the café with Thor held protectively against Loki’s heart in one cupped hand, and the fact that two brothers could be so messed up and yet still care about each other reminded Clint uncomfortably of himself and Barney.

He said good night to Maria and Steve, greeted Darcy and Natasha as they arrived, and left for the night.

* * *

Clint had barely been home two minutes when his phone rang.

“Barton,” he said into the receiver.

“Open your curtains,” said Phil’s voice on the other end, before he hung up.

Clint opened his curtains. There was a vampire in a suit standing on his windowsill.

Clint raised an eyebrow at him. Phil waited patiently for Clint to open the window.

“Did I ever tell you you’re creepy, sometimes?” Clint asked rhetorically, as he opened the window. Phil climbed inside easily.

“I’m a vampire, Clint.”

“Yeah, and I get that creepiness is kind of part of the package, but still. I have a door, you know. You could knock on it.”

“It’s more exciting this way,” Phil said, deadpan, and Clint snorted with laughter, because he genuinely couldn’t tell if Phil was serious or not.

“Hey,” said Clint, pulling his boyfriend into a loose hug. Phil promptly stuck his nose in the crook of Clint’s neck and breathed a bit. This had definitely been in creepiness-territory when Phil had first started doing it, but now Clint mostly found it comforting, despite the fact that his vampire boyfriend was scenting his blood when he did it.

After a minute or so Phil pulled back, a tiny smile pulling at the edges of his mouth and crinkling the corners of his eyes. Clint smiled at him, because sometimes Phil just looked damn adorable.

“Anything interesting happen tonight?” Phil questioned idly.

“Well, Loki’s brother showed up. I didn’t even know he had a brother. Did you know he had a brother?”

“I didn’t,” said Phil. “What happened?”

“Loki turned him into a mouse, that’s what happened.”

Phil’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

“A _mouse?_ ”

“Yeah,” Clint agreed, glad that Phil was on the same page as him. “Loki seemed pretty mad. But he took Thor – his brother – home with him, and carried him really carefully, so I don’t know. I guess Loki still cares about him, under the anger.”

“I knew that Loki had family issues, but not what kind,” Phil mused. “I hope this doesn’t cause trouble.”

“Me too,” Clint agreed. “So, honey, how was your night?” He batted his eyelashes.

Phil threw a cushion at him, but he was smiling, so Clint just grinned.

“It was fine. Although, there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh?” Clint asked curiously. Phil looked serious, so Clint joined him on the couch. “What is it?”

Phil shifted a bit, looking faintly uncomfortable. As they’d gotten closer Phil had started to drop the ‘all-in-control-all-the-time’ façade, letting Clint see more of what he was really feeling. Clint loved that his boyfriend trusted him enough to let his guard down.

“Every year, the master vampire of New York holds a ball,” Phil explained. “I was hoping you’d be my date this year.”

Clint thought about this for a second.

“So, it’s like a vampire ball?”

“Yes,” Phil confirmed.

“For vampires?”

Phil gave him a look.

“Sure. Why not?” Clint shrugged. “Is there anything I should know? I’m warning you, I’m bad with etiquette and stuff. Circus kid, here.”

“You’ll manage,” Phil said, smiling softly.

“Then cool. I’ll be interested to see what you guys all do when you get together.”

“What everyone at this sort of social gathering does,” Phil said mildly. “Spend the night occupied with small talk and petty one-upmanship, with the occasional back-stabbing.”

Clint snickered.

“Sounds like fun.” He did a suggestive thing with his eyebrows. “You know what else would be fun?” he asked, letting his voice lower.

“I think I can guess,” Phil said in the same tone. “And I’m guessing that it takes place in the bedroom.”

“Your prophetic powers are inspiring,” Clint said with a grin, and pounced on him.

* * *

The next night, shortly after the café opened, Clint was telling Natasha all about what had gone down with Loki the night before when Thor walked in. He was human again. Clint quickly stopped talking. Natasha gave Thor an appreciative look.

“Greetings,” Thor boomed, smiling at Clint. “We met yesterday, friend, during my unfortunate time as a mouse.”

“Yeah, I remember. It’s Clint, by the way. Did Loki forgive you, or what?”

“It is gratifying to meet you, Clint,” Thor said, holding out a hand. When Clint took it, not just his hand but his entire arm was shaken. He was kind of getting an idea of why Loki had spent his life feeling overshadowed. “It is difficult to say. He is not so angry as to keep me as a mouse, however, which I consider a promising sign.”

“He must have been pretty angry to turn you into one in the first place,” said Natasha. Thor nodded gravely.

“It is so. My family have made many missteps in our handling of my brother. It is not surprising that he had taken them to heart.” Thor allowed his expression to lighten. “But my brother tells me that you prepare the most excellent food! From what I remember of the muffin I ate, it was magnificent. But that may have been because I was a mouse.”

“Well, there’s menus on the tables,” said Natasha, smiling slightly in spite of herself. It was hard not to like Thor, even if he had faults. “Just come up to the counter when you’re ready to order.”

“I shall do so,” Thor promised with a smile, and went off to sit at a table, making the chair look small and spindly in comparison.

“Wow,” said Natasha. “It’s a good thing Darcy hasn’t seen him.”

“What?” Clint blinked in surprise. “Why?” 

Natasha gave him a look that suggested he was slow.

“Because you know what she’s like with hot guys,” she said, as though the answer was obvious. “Can you imagine how jealous Loki would be of his one friend being all over Thor?”

Clint could. 

“Oh, shit.”

Natasha sent him an _‘exactly’_ look.

* * *

Thor was still hanging around several hours later when Loki turned up for his shift.

“Is he _still_ here?” Loki asked disbelievingly, catching sight of Thor.

“I think he likes it here,” Natasha offered. Loki rolled his eyes.

“Hey peeps, what’s up,” Darcy declared, emerging from the back room. Clint and Natasha exchanged looks, and in a moment of mutual, silent agreement, decided to linger a little longer.

Darcy caught sight of Thor. She whistled.

“Well, _hello_. Who’s the mountain of muscle over there?”

Loki instantly stiffened.

“That would be my brother, Thor,” he said in a strained voice.

“Wow. You never told me you had a hot brother,” Darcy replied, still staring at Thor, oblivious to the rising tension.

Thor, feeling Darcy’s gaze, looked up and grinned at her.

“Oh, wow. He is _cut_.” Darcy fanned herself a little.

Loki stormed into the back rooms with a face like a thundercloud.

Clint and Natasha exchanged glances.

“You might want to stop staring,” Clint recommended.

“What? Why?” Darcy blinked at him. 

“Because he and Loki have issues, and you’re making Loki jealous,” Natasha said bluntly. “And when Loki gets angry, he turns people into things.”

“Last night, Thor was a mouse,” Clint added.

Darcy absorbed this.

“Okay, so no ogling the hot brother,” she said at last. “Damn. The sacrifices I make for that dude. I’ve got to ask: do you think it was just jealousy in general, or do you think, like, Loki has a thing for me?”

Clint shrugged.

“Don’t look at me, I have no clue.”

“You’ll have to ask him,” Natasha said unsympathetically. 

Darcy sighed.

“Dammit. Okay. Don’t worry about it, guys. I’ll sort something out. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Darcy walked through the doorway into the back rooms. After a second Natasha nudged Clint, and with a sigh, he put a spell of invisibility over both of them. Staying close together, he and Natasha crept quietly after Darcy.

Loki was in the kitchen, frowning at the orders there. When Darcy walked over with a determined look on her face, Clint and Natasha were right behind her, so that when Loki quickly erected a privacy bubble the two of them were inside when it went up.

“I think we should talk,” said Darcy.

“I really don’t,” Loki responded.

“Dude,” said Darcy. “You are like, my favourite person. I don’t know why, since you’re an ass–”

“Many thanks,” said Loki, with a wry twist to his mouth.

“–but I love you anyway,” Darcy went on. “Come on, you really think I’d just stop paying attention to you or something just because your brother’s here?”

“He is, as you say, ‘cut,’” said Loki.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I want to be _friends_ with him, you giant dork. What’s actually eating you? Is it that I think he’s hot, or just that I was paying attention to him? Because if it was the first one, you could just ask me out.”

“While I love you dearly,” Loki said carefully, “were we to date, I truly believe that you would drive me to new heights of insanity.”

Darcy snickered.

“So that’s a no? Then you have nothing to worry about. Look, I’ll even promise to do nothing more than ogle, okay? But you can’t deny me ogling rights, because a woman’s got to have something in life.”

Loki cracked a small smile at that, and Clint sighed in relief.

“Very well. Clint,” he added, raising his voice slightly, “I am a wizard, _and_ I taught you all you know about magic. Do you really think I wouldn’t notice you creeping around under an invisibility spell?”

Clint hastily dropped the spell, feeling sheepish.

“And Natasha. Lovely to see you, as always, but perhaps the two of you will stop eavesdropping now that you have been reassured that everything is fine?”

“Uh, yeah,” said Clint. “We’ll just, uh, do that.”

He fled the kitchen hastily.

* * *

A month later and Clint was standing in a tailored suit beside Phil, looking out at a crowded ballroom. According to Phil, every vampire in New York and quite a few from out of town had assembled here tonight. Clint believed him.

The suit he was wearing was surprisingly comfortable. Phil had insisted on high armholes in the jacket and high-waisted pants, as well as had a dozen other little touches that meant that Clint could move freely if he had to. Clint hadn’t been entirely happy about Phil paying for his suit, but as Phil had reasonably pointed out, as a two-thousand-odd year old vampire he’d had a lot of time to gather cash and assets, and since Clint was doing him the favour of acting as his date, it was only fair that he pay for the suit Clint was required to wear. Clint wasn’t entirely convinced, but he had to admit that Phil made a certain amount of sense, so he’d shut up and let Phil buy him the tailored suit Phil wanted him to wear.

So now here he was, standing in a suit, his usual glamour down to show what he really looked like, surrounded by men and women dressed up to the nines. Clint felt uncomfortable, to say the least.

“Relax,” Phil whispered as they made their way through the crowd. “You’re doing fine.”

The vampires around them were sending Clint appreciative and Phil envious looks, like Clint was some kind of possession or status symbol.

“You say that, but you don’t have people staring at you like you’re a must-have accessory,” Clint grumbled under his breath. A couple of nearby vampires snickered, and Clint mentally cursed vampiric hearing.

“Hey.” Phil linked arms with him, meeting Clint’s eyes with a sympathetic smile. “Just ignore them, okay?”

So Clint did his best to ignore how out-of-place he felt. It was with relief that he noticed Natasha approaching, looking drop-dead gorgeous in a red gown that hugged all her curves. There was a slit up the side, offering occasional flashes of shapely leg.

“Natasha, you look lovely,” Phil greeted her.

“Real Jessica Rabbit vibe going on there,” Clint leered, and Natasha cuffed him upside the head.

“Manners,” she scolded, and smiled at Phil while Clint was rubbing his head. Natasha’s hits _hurt._ “You look particularly well-put together, Phil. And frankly, I’m amazed at what you’ve done with Clint.”

“I hate you,” Clint told her. Natasha sent him a look that said she knew otherwise, eyes sparkling with mirth at his discomfort.

“Thanks, but it’s mostly Clint. The suit just accentuates what’s already there,” Phil replied.

“Still, it’s impressive,” Natasha said, eyeing Clint.

“Okay, you can stop pointing out how hot I look in a suit,” Clint grumbled. “I’ve worked that out already.”

Natasha smirked, and the three of them went in search of alcohol.

There was a constant stream of people wanting to talk to Phil or be introduced to Clint, and after an hour or so Clint felt like climbing the walls just to get away. Phil sent Natasha a meaningful glance, and Natasha took Clint’s arm and tugged him out towards the dance floor.

“Do you dance?” she asked him. Clint gulped.

“Not, like, formally.”

“And informally?”

“One of my trainers insisted that dancing was the best way to learn to move gracefully for anyone doing any kind of acrobatics,” Clint admitted. “So I can sort of dance?”

“Good enough,” Natasha decided, and swept him onto the dance floor.

The music was lively, but most people were doing fairly sedate dances. Natasha sent Clint a tiny, roguish grin, and the two of them set out to change that.

Clint wasn’t lying when he said he hadn’t learnt any formal dances. The dude who trained him, though, had taught him a weird mix of a bunch of different styles of dance that Clint had learned all blended together. At first Natasha seemed a little thrown by the way Clint unknowingly slipped from one into another, but it didn’t take long before she was keeping up with him.

Clint was vaguely aware of other people joining the dance floor and dancing just as enthusiastically as he and Natasha were, but honestly, he was enjoying himself too much to really notice.

He was twirling Natasha when a familiar voice asked,

“May I cut in?”

“Go for it,” Natasha smiled, and left Clint standing alone. Clint turned, and found Phil surveying him with an amused smile.

“Interesting style you have there,” Phil said conversationally. “Want to see how it works with mine?”

“You bet,” said Clint, grinning, and Phil took his hands and the two of them started to dance together.

Phil started off by doing complicated things with his feet, but Clint was familiar with what he was doing, and followed suit. They went back and forth the dance floor for a while, and then Clint caught Phil’s smirk right before Phil pulled him into a spin. Laughing, Clint went with it. A moment later Clint flung himself away from Phil, his left hand still grasping Phil’s, before Phil reeled him back in, the two of them chest-to-chest before they stepped back, holding both hands again as they went back to the complicated footwork.

Clint sort of moonwalked backwards, Phil advancing towards him at the same speed, before Clint stepped forward again into Phil’s space. And so they went, having a fantastic time until, laughing a little, Phil suggested that they stop for refreshment. Clint agreed, and he and Phil turned to leave the dance floor.

The crowd around them erupted into applause, and Clint realised with surprise that a space had formed around them, a lot of the other dancers having stopped to watch him and Phil dance. In a good mood after all that dancing, Clint just smiled at them all, while Phil sent them an acknowledging nod.

The two of them flagged down a passing waiter, and took a glass of wine each.

“That was fun,” said Clint. “Hey, Phil, you didn’t tell me you could dance.”

“You didn’t tell me you could dance, either,” Phil pointed out, but his smile was soft and fond.

It disappeared into something firmer and larger as a voice bellowed,

“Coulson!”

Phil turned, Clint along with him, as a black dude in black leather and wearing an eyepatch strode towards them.

“Phil, you bastard, how long have you been here without stopping to say hi?” the man demanded. “I saw you cutting a rug out there. Nice moves, by the way. Who’s this?” One eye regarded Clint with suspicion.

“Nick, this is my boyfriend, Clint Barton,” Phil replied. “Clint, this is Nick Fury, the master vampire of New York, and a good friend of mine.”

“Boyfriend, huh?” Fury questioned, still eyeballing Clint. Clint stared back. “You didn’t tell me you had a _boyfriend,_ Phil.”

“Yeah, well, he didn’t tell me he was friends with the master vampire of New York, either,” said Clint. “So I guess both of us are out of the loop.”

Fury narrowed an eye at Clint, but when Clint did nothing but meet his gaze, Fury grinned, and slapped Clint on the shoulder.

“I like this one, Phil. He’s got balls. And it’s always good to have a faerie on your side.”

Natasha came slinking up to them, a glass of wine in one hand and a small smile on her lips.

“Natasha!” Fury exclaimed, and pulled her into a hug. “Damn, you’re looking fine tonight, woman.”

Natasha just quirked a tiny grin at him.

“Natasha, why don’t you keep Clint company while Nick and I catch up,” Phil recommended, glancing at Clint to check that this was okay. Clint shrugged to show that he was fine with that idea.

Fury threw an arm around Phil and started to walk away with him, talking animatedly and gesturing with his free hand, and Natasha and Clint found a quiet alcove with  some elegant-looking sofas in it. Natasha sank down onto one and toed off her shoes with a faint sigh of relief, while Clint sat down next to her.

“You know, this has been more fun than I was expecting,” Clint said thoughtfully. “The way Phil described it, I thought it was all going to be, like, small talk and back-stabbing.”

Natasha snorted.

“It is. You’ve just missed out on most of it because you were too busy dancing. Besides, you’re not a vampire, so most of the politics wouldn’t affect you.”

“Most?” Clint queried. Natasha shrugged.

“Well, you _are_ dating a vampire. So some of it’s going to affect you indirectly. But Phil’s of pretty high standing, even if he isn’t flashy about it, so there isn’t much for either of you to worry about.”

“Huh.” Clint was silent for a while. The two of them drank their wine. It was probably nice wine, but Clint’s taste ran more to cheap whiskey and good beer, a product of living most of his life in the circus. “Tasha, why does it seem to be such a big deal that I’m a faerie?”

Natasha sighed.

“Let me explain a thing or two about the fae to you,” she said, watching Clint to make sure he was paying proper attention. “The first thing is that the fae live in another realm, separate from but connected to Earth. The second thing is that the fae are powerful, and a long time ago, they used to rule every supernatural creature on this planet.”

Clint blinked.

“So what happened?”

“Humans,” Natasha said simply. “They changed. And most importantly, they started working iron.”

“Ohhh,” said Clint, realising what that meant. As someone who was only part-fae, iron really only bothered him if he touched it, and steel didn’t bother him at all – the process that converted iron to steel changed it enough that Clint was no longer affected. But to a full-blooded faerie, all of the iron and steel everywhere would have been enough to make them sick.

“Exactly,” said Natasha. “With all the iron around, they usually can’t bear to enter our world. Occasionally they can slip through in rural areas where the concentration of iron is less, but even then, they can only stay here so long.”

“Okay,” said Clint. “I get that. But what’s it all got to do with how everyone out there was looking at me?”

“The fae might no longer be able to rule this world, but they’re still powerful,” Natasha explained. “As someone who’s only part-fae, you might not be as powerful as the full-blooded fae, but you also don’t share their weakness to the same degree. Theoretically, if you were powerful enough, you could still seize power if you wanted to. That makes you someone to respect, and as far as other vampires are concerned, the fact that Phil was able to interest you must mean that he’s powerful in his own right.”

“Oh.”

“Although some of the looks you were getting were just because you’re attractive,” Natasha added, a smile in her voice.

“Shut up,” Clint groaned. Natasha just gave him a small grin, enjoying his embarrassment.

* * *

Phil rejoined them some time later, to find Clint juggling wine glasses with great concentration while Natasha clapped.

“I think maybe I should take you home before you break something,” Phil said, eyeing the wine glasses apprehensively. Clint tossed him one, which Phil caught easily, and then caught the two remaining glasses in each hand.

“I am awesome!” Clint crowed, while Natasha snorted at his enthusiasm.

“Definitely taking you home,” Phil corrected. “How much have you had to drink?”

“Lots?” Clint guessed. “They keep bringing me more!”

Natasha giggled, which was a sure sign that she was far from sober herself.

Phil sighed, and taking the glasses from Clint, put them down on the low table.

“Alright, you two. Come on. Clint, it’s about time you saw my place. Natasha, you’re welcome to borrow a guest room.”

“ _Spasibo,_ ” said Natasha, while Phil took Clint’s arm.

“You are the best,” Clint declared, staring at him. “Do you know you have beautiful eyes?”

“Thank you,” said Phil, looking amused, but also a little touched. “Natasha?” He offered her his other arm, and the three of them left the ball together.

“My life is great,” Clint told the cab driver, as Phil pushed him into the car.

“You're ridiculous," Phil told him, but Clint could tell he meant it in a good way from the warm look in his eyes.

 

**Author's Note:**

> ETA: shadowedshards on devaintart has done a really cute drawing of mouse!Thor asleep on his muffin. It's at http://shadowedshards.deviantart.com/art/Thor-Mouse-413985308


End file.
